In retail stores, particularly but not exclusively grocery stores, products are displayed on pegs for customer inspection and selection. It is essential that the pegs and the products displayed thereon be organized in order to maximize the use of space and maintain an on-hand inventory. Furthermore, as products are sold it is necessary to regularly move the products towards the front of the peg so that customers can inspect the products and select those they desire to purchase. If the product is hidden towards the back of the peg, or if product is disorganized and displayed chaotically or unattractively, then potential sales may be lost. The spacing of the pegs is influenced not only by the dimensions of the product displayed thereon but additionally by the need to regularly move rows of products towards the front of the peg. In the usual case, the rows of products are moved towards the front of the pegs by hand. This requires a certain minimum amount of spacing between rows and columns of products in order to allow a store clerk to get at least one hand in-between the products and move the row forwards. As a result of this, less linear space is available to display the products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,608 to Eklof et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,021 to Fredrickson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,894 to Dechirot all disclose devices for peg system display racks which can automatically advance a row of products towards the front of the peg as the products are removed by customers. Each of the references disclose systems which utilize a spring to bias a pusher member into contact with the products to push the row of products towards the front of the peg. The spring provides a generally constant forward pressure on the pusher member which keeps the products urged toward the end of the peg. As a product is removed from the peg the row is automatically advanced forward to the bent portion of the peg. In each system, an outward tip portion of the peg normally must be bent substantially upwards to prevent the products from being pushed off of the peg by the spring.
The standard pegs widely used in stores has a short portion of the very end of the tip which is bent upwards slightly at about a 45 degree angle. Devices like those disclosed in Eklof, Fredrickson, and Dechirot require that the tip portion of the peg be bent about 90 degrees to ensure that the products are not pushed off. Pegs which have tip portions angled so steeply can present difficulties in loading and unloading products onto the peg as wells as requiring more time for rotating and facing the products. The most popular types of pegs have a tip portion which is angled upward only slightly, such as about 45 degrees, and just enough to keep products from falling off and still permit quicker loading, rotating, and facing of the products. Since most stores use these types of pegs, devices like those disclosed in Eklof, Fredrickson, and Dechirot can require replacement or modification of a substantial number of pegs. Thus, such automatic product advancing devices have not been widely accepted in the marketplace.
The spring and the pusher members can take up space behind the product which could otherwise be used to hold more merchandise on the peg. If the spring is too short, it will not be able to push the last product to the front of the peg. If the spring is too long, it takes too much space on the peg that could otherwise be used for storing products. Also, springs and pusher members are relatively small pieces which can easily be lost or damaged, especially when installing dozens, even hundreds, of these parts on a single peg type display rack, and there may be several such peg display systems in each store.
Such systems may require more installation time to attach the springs and pusher members to each other and to attach the spring to the back of the display. Correspondingly, there are more pieces which can wear out and need replaced. For example, the spring may become bent or stretched and the pusher member may break, or become cracked, especially if the particular unit is installed in a refrigerated display. Multiple small pieces typically result in higher repair and replacement costs. Each of these systems normally requires that the tip of the peg have some substantially upturned portion in order to keep the products from being pushed off of the peg by the spring. In fact, exploit these systems fully, it might even be advisable that a particular type of pegs, such as having an upturned tip portion, and display rack be used.
In systems like these, the pusher member can potentially stick or become jammed on the peg. There is the problem that foreign objects such as dirt, sticky or frozen liquids, or pieces of products could become jammed between the pusher member and the peg thereby preventing a device from pushing the products towards the front of the peg. Particularly in cases with items hung on a peg, there is often a small perforated portion around the hole that the peg goes through. In such packaging, when the products are inserted on the pegs, the peg can simply be pushed against the perforated part so that the perforated part can break out upon installing the products on the peg. This small piece, usually plastic or paper, might easily become wedged between the pusher member and the peg thereby jamming the system.
As a result of the potential problems which can be associated with such automatic product advancing devices, in addition to the necessity that the pegs have substantially upturned tips, they have not been widely accepted.
In regard to systems for managing products displayed on shelves, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,413,229 and 5,469,976 disclose systems for managing rows of products displayed on shelves, for moving those rows of products towards the front of the shelf, and for reloading the shelves with products. Those systems include a plurality of adjacent side rail assemblies positioned along the shelf extending from front to back, a plurality of puller members for pulling the products to the front of the shelf, and a loader for reloading rows of products. Each side rail assembly includes a base rail and a divider attached to the base rail, wherein at least one row of products may be positioned between the dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies. An unbiased backstop assembly is positioned between dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies, wherein the backstop assembly is movable between the front and back of the shelf and is adapted to advance at least one row of products toward the front of the shelf. A puller member positioned between the dividers of adjacent side rail assemblies is associated with the backstop assembly. The puller member is manually moved forwards to advance the backstop assembly, and the row of products, towards the front of the shelf, but to leave the backstop assembly undisturbed when the puller member is pushed towards the rear of the shelf. However, this type of system is not suitable for a peg type product display.
Therefore, there is a need for a system for allocating and managing space among products displayed on pegs which overcomes the aforementioned problems. Such a system is needed to maximize the available display space and to move quickly and easily advance rows of products towards the front of the pegs so that customers can inspect the products and select those they desire to purchase. The system can also facilitate faster stocking, rotating, and facing of the products by store personnel. Additionally, the system should not require replacement or significant modification of existing peg type display racks. This is accomplished by providing a cost-effective system for allocating and managing space among products displayed on pegs. The system should be simple to manufacture, inexpensive to purchase, quick and easy to install, adaptable to a wide variety peg hangers with little or no modifications to the existing peg display, and facilitate stocking, rotating and facing, i.e. advancing products towards the front of the pegs for customer inspection and selection.